Business Highlights

The Associated Press

Updated
4:20 pm CDT, Friday, September 13, 2019

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Lawmakers ask 4 big tech companies for documents in probe

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers investigating the market dominance of Big Tech are asking Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple for a broad range of documents including internal communications. Letters went out to the four companies on Friday from the leaders of the House Judiciary Committee and its subcommittee on antitrust, which has been conducting a sweeping antitrust investigation of the companies and their impact on competition and consumers. The companies have said they'll cooperate fully with the probe.

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China to lift punitive tariffs on US soybeans, pork

BEIJING (AP) — Washington wants Beijing to roll back plans for state-led development of leaders in robotics and other technologies. The United States, Europe and other trading partners argue that those plans violate China's free-trade commitments. Some American officials worry that they will erode U.S. industrial leadership.

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US Treasury sanctions 3 North Korean hacking groups

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three North Korean hacking groups suspected of perpetrating cyberattacks around the world have been placed on a U.S. sanctions list. The Treasury Department's action draws attention to the isolated nation's illegal efforts to fund its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The U.S. says the three groups are controlled by the North Korean government. One was behind the WannaCry ransomware, which froze 300,000 computers across 150 countries in 2017.

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PG&E reaches $11B deal with California wildfire insurers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Pacific Gas & Electric has agreed to pay $11 billion to a group of insurance companies representing claims from deadly 2017 and 2018 Northern California wildfires as the company tries to emerge from bankruptcy. The tentative agreement does not include thousands of uninsured and underinsured fire victims who have filed their own claims against PG&E, including for wrongful deaths. The amount was higher than analysts and the company had estimated.

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Johnson, Juncker to meet in a bid for a Brexit breakthrough

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet for talks next week to try to break the Brexit impasse as both sides seek to avert what could be a disastrous "no-deal" departure. Johnson says "there is the rough shape of the deal to be done." He described himself as "cautiously optimistic" that a new agreement can be forged even as officials warned against any sudden breakthrough.

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Filings: Purdue owners used Swiss banks to hide transfers

NEW YORK (AP) — New York state's attorney general contends in court papers that the family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma used Swiss bank accounts to conceal the transfer of millions of dollars from the company to themselves. New York on Friday asked a judge to enforce subpoenas of companies, banks and advisers to Purdue and its owners, the Sackler family. The state said it has already documented $1 billion in transfers between those parties.

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US retail sales rise moderately as auto-buying jumps

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales rose moderately in August, led by a jump in auto buying and healthy online sales. But there were also signs that consumers have become more cautious.

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UPS to pay $8.4M to settle claim of overcharging government

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says United Parcel Service Inc. must pay $8.4 million to settle allegations that the company was overcharging the federal government for package deliveries. The settlement was announced Friday. The Justice Department alleges UPS failed to abide by the terms of its contract with the General Services Administration and overcharged the government for services from 2007 until 2014. UPS said the claims stemmed from "good faith differences regarding contract interpretation."

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UAW extends Ford, Fiat Chrysler pacts; strike possible at GM

DETROIT (AP) — Leaders of the United Auto Workers union have extended contracts with Ford and Fiat Chrysler indefinitely, but the pact with General Motors' is still set to expire Saturday night. The move puts added pressure on bargainers for both sides as they approach the contract deadline and the union starts to prepare for a strike. The four-year contract with GM ends at 11:59 p.m. Saturday.

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WeWork to list shares on Nasdaq, reduce CEO's voting power

NEW YORK (AP) — WeWork's parent company announced major changes in its corporate governance practices Friday as it revealed plans to list shares on the Nasdaq. The office-sharing company is pressing on with its highly anticipated stock market debut — expected later this month — despite doubts about its ability to make money and decisions that have raised commitment and conflict of interest concerns about CEO Adam Neumann.

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US stock indexes end mixed; S&P 500 notches 3rd weekly gain

NEW YORK (AP) — The S&P 500 notched its third straight weekly gain Friday, even as the major U.S. stock indexes ended the day mostly lower. A slide in technology stocks, along with losses in consumer-focused and real estate companies, offset solid gains elsewhere in the market, including big Wall Street banks and industrial stocks. Bond yields rose sharply. An easing of tensions in the costly trade war between the U.S. and China bolstered the market this week.